This invention relates to the field of breakfast cereals, pastries, and snack foods. More particularly, this invention relates to food components such as marshmallow bits and frosted coatings and fillings for ready-to-eat cereals, pastries, cookies, confections, and snack foods.
There are numerous popular breakfast cereals which contain marshmallow bits or flakes having a frosted coating. These marshmallow bits and coated flakes typically contain a high percentage of sugar. Many people enjoy the taste and mouthfeel of marshmallow bits and coated flakes, but for a variety of reasons, do not wish to consume the sugar contained in the bits and flakes. Products such as toaster pastries, confections, cookies and sweetened snack foods also contain frosted coatings.
Previous attempts to produce sugar-free marshmallow bits and frosted coating substances have not resulted in taste and textural characteristics similar to those products containing sugar. For example, sugar-free frosted coatings conventionally must be spray dried onto the surface of products. Sugar-free marshmallow bits are typically prepared with raw granular starch, which creates a chewy texture. Thus, such products and methods to produce the products are desired.